The July/August 2012 issue of the Atlantic had an article called Why Women Still Can’t Have it All. The author makes a bold statement that feminists have been selling young women a fiction that they can have it all, career and family. She even admits to being one of those feminists but has realized that it’s just not true. While I could talk about so many different things in this article I want to focus on 2 key things: 1. the role of prioritizing the family and 2. what can be done as individuals to enable positive priorities and work environments.
1. The role of prioritizing the family: last year I wrote a post titled Mormon Women and Careers that said “I truly believe the companies that crack the code on how to better enable both fathers and mothers, mormon and non-mormon, to find ways to strengthen their families as well as focus on professional development and success will unlock unforeseen potential and greater happiness in their employees, leading to better, more efficient, profitable work.” It’s important to recognize that this isn’t a women’s issue. It’s a family issue. It’s important for men and women even if one parent is staying home.
I was really excited to have additional data to support this statement. She quotes a few stats that make the point above:
a. A seminal study of 527 U.S. companies, published in the Academy of Management Journal in 2000, suggests that “organizations with more extensive work-family policies have higher perceived firm-level performance” among their industry peers.
b. Examining 130 announcements of family-friendly policies in The Wall Street Journal, Arthur found that the announcements alone significantly improved share prices.
c. In 2011, a study on flexibility in the workplace by Ellen Galinsky, Kelly Sakai, and Tyler Wigton of the Families and Work Institute showed that increased flexibility correlates positively with job engagement, job satisfaction, employee retention, and employee health.
d. Other scholars have concluded that good family policies attract better talent, which in turn raises productivity, but that the policies themselves have no impact on productivity.
2. What can be done as individuals to enable positive priorities and work environments? The article suggests some things that need to change that are larger than the individual or even sometimes organizations. Therefore we need to find ways as individuals to promote a better environment. The question is how?
The best advice I received when I became a direct manager of others was “be conscious of the culture you create.” It was further explained that this meant that if I wanted to create an environment that prioritized the family or enabled flexible working schedules I needed to demonstrate that I believed in those things, not just say I believed in them. For example, I don’t have kids, but I believe they should be prioritized so I had to find a way to show this. For me this included packing up and leaving at 5pm sometimes and working from home, without shame, guilt or fear so that this was acceptable. I was shocked at how hard this was. When I began my career I didn’t have control over the culture and often worked long hard hours so the shift took a lot more work, patience and diligence than I thought it would.
The loyalty and hard, excellent work I have received from the people who have worked for me has been incredible. I have no question that living by principles and setting priorities has enabled the culture I want to create, an environment that supports and prioritizes the family.
If we want the world and society to change we have to start with what we have power and influence to change ourselves.
Thanks for your thoughts Lisa. It reminds me of what Elder Cook said last year, “I would hope that Latter-day Saints would be at the forefront in creating an environment in the workplace that is more receptive and accommodating to both women and men in their responsibilities as parents.” (http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2011/04/lds-women-are-incredible?lang=eng) Sounds like you are at the forefront doing what you can and I admire that.
I agree that companies who offer great work-family policies (and have managers who practice these policies and enable others to do so) tend to attract and retain talent. Thanks for sharing, Lisa. Well-said.
I agree with you, and I admire what you’re doing in your own workplace to set a family-friendly standard.
Thanks for your thoughts, Lisa. I especially liked how you turned the conversation personal, putting some level of responsibility on the individual, rather than the abstract “society.” As a woman MBA entering the start-up world, I would be interested to hear more about the corporate level policies that enable individuals to make those choices for which you advocate — more flexible hours? More nuanced performance reviews? Creating more part-time positions with benefits?
Thanks again for your contribution!
As a husband and a soon-to-be father, I have started to think more and more how the solutions mentioned in the Atlantic article would also help me be more family focused. I definitely agree that we should not think of these as women’s issues but family issues.
These are great thoughts lisa, and what you’re trying to do at work is difficult. I appreciate what you’re saying about not having children but trying to create a culture that values family and sets it as a priority. I think this will be on my mind all day and how I show what my priorities are. Thought provoking.
Lisa, thanks for this article. You should consider guest posting for this new(ish) blog (http://www.familyfriendlywork.org/)…the creator was inspired by the Elder Cook quote listed above. (She’s also on FB: https://www.facebook.com/groups/134584233334640/)
It makes me also wish you were at the BYU Women in Business conference last fall. We had an amazing evening’s focus on these topics, with Chrysula Winegar and E. Jeffrey Hill, both experts in work/life balance issues. It’s a discussion that needs to keep happening, so thanks for sharing your thoughts.
“I have no question that living by principles and setting priorities has enabled the culture I want to create, an environment that supports and prioritizes the family.”
This is fantastic.
If you ever get a chance to hear Jeff Hill speak or take a few minutes to read about his experiences at IBM, he was someone who initiated the first telecommuting programs at IBM, and he was able to do it simply by asking/inviting his manager to let him give it a try. While it’s always great when a manager can take the lead like you have, Lisa, I think that people should never stop trying to find opportunities to encourage innovation from the bottom-up in creating more family-friendly work environments. It never hurts to ask, I say.
Great post. And I love how you back up your points with solid evidence. It’s true that companies that promote family-friendly policies do better, and this will continue to be true as baby boomers retire and Gen. Y workers move into the workplace.
I think we as a society need to do a better job of valuing families at work. I love your ideas of setting an example as a manager, so that taking time for family doesn’t become stigmatized. I have a few ideas of what employers can do to promote a family-friendly workplace: .
But I also think it’s important for employees themselves to ask for what they need. If there’s one thing I’ve learned through my research about work and family issues, it’s that there can be a huge disconnect between what employers think they allow and what employees think is allowed. It might require taking some initiative and overcoming some fears, but I truly believe that as more employees make time for their families, companies will notice. I have some tips on my site for employees, too , and eventually I plan to add a whole package of information and templates that viewers can download when they’re asking managers for flexibility or leave.
Sorry to double comment, but my tags didn’t work.
Employer tips for promoting family-friendly benefits: http://www.familyfriendlywork.org/how-to-give-employees-flexibility.html
Employee tips for asking for flexibility or leave: http://www.familyfriendlywork.org/how-to-ask-for-flexibility.html